It was a messy start for the day where mistakes of the past were disrupting today’s progress!!!
After a lot of GOOFUPS and misses, got struck from all ends!!!
Now came out to chill with Bala & Ravi, have lunch and finish up with a movie.. Hope this break will relax the mind, help us think and come with a solution!!!
For now let me enjoy my favourite director Quentin Tarantino movie The Hateful Eight!!
It is always feels good to visit your native where your ancestors lived and belonged!! I use to visit my native Chidambaram every year, it was 1990’s which made this place more memorable!!
Those days it was dirty, smelly & people’s attire showed they were from a rural place!! These day the town has improved a lot on cleanliness & people way of dressing!! It is coming close to urban standards!!
I keep visiting relatives, dad’s friends, Nataraja temple and movies as a child!!
On completing my graduation and after getting busy with work there was no time for friends, relatives, temple and movie!!! Still I went to Chidambaram which was go & come the same day visits, which was mainly for offering Pooja for our community God!!!
This week I’ve made sure I stay and cherish my childhood life back!! Unfortunately I couldn’t visit relatives, friends & Nataraja temple.. It was a tiring drive and work as always!!!
But I went for a drive around this small town and went for a movie which I remember going almost 13 years back!!!
Then closed my day watching Aranmanai 2 at Lena Theatre!!
Finally could live a small part of my childhood!!!
That’s Cutlet!! One of the secret ingredient of my Aunty.. Yes she has specialised cooking these Cutlets which are not deepfriend, also they are not high in calorie & it tastes really good!!
It is Simply Irresistible!! Longing to get more from her!!!
I’ve been a very proactive kid in sports, business & extra curricular activities… But I’ve been a underperforming student… My whole capacity was measured based on my academic performance… My own parents crushed my dreams, and pushed me to put that extra effort to excel in what I was not good at(Studies)…
The stigma of being a poor performer in academics made me;
Things I was forced to QUIT!!
Sports: I was a naturally gifted athlete & sports person which came from my maternal grandfather, maternal uncle and my mother. Sports Day is the only day I felt like a hero. I had dreams of building a career as a footballer or an athlete. But I was forced to quit because of academic performance.
Fish Breeding: At the age of 12 I started breeding fish at home and was selling to local kids. Made around ₹2000 a month during 1992. My parents forced me to quit, as they believed earning money would bring down my interest in academics.
HDK Dealership: Those were the days of audio cassettes. People use to buy empty cassattes to record their favorate songs. A 90 minute empty cassette costs ₹40 and I use to buy those cassettes to record songs. HDK(or HDC? Could collect the name) was the market leader for its quality!!
One day thought of taking dealership for HDK as local shops were selling low quality cassettes.Immediately wrote a letter to HDK asking dealership. I got a response from them telling they didn’t have a dealership option. But they offered to give a cassette for ₹20 if I could place an order for 100 units. The total investment was ₹2000 and my parents had the money I earned through fish breeding. Again they didn’t give that money and discouraged me to continue..
Movies: My interest on studies was drastically coming down as I couldn’t cope up. Got an opportunity to become a troop dancer in movies. Again I was not allowed to continue as movies are not considered as a career option for person coming from a reputed family..
Finally I took a stand that I wanted to become an entrepreneur when I was 20 and perceived with great difficulties. But I had to come across a lot of junks like;
It is impossible to totally eradicate such people. But I do following things to remove those junk take over me;
This is what I do to “Clean House of Junk”…
Lived the first eighteen years of my life without access to technology. There were no internet or mobiles then, even a computer was considered a toy for wealthy.
Then slowly internet came and it quickly took over me. Also I built a career backed by Internet & Mobile.
Then at one point in life I was running through a rough patch. Then I started blogging just to keep me engaged. Over a point blogging became an habit and slowly if became an addiction.
Today I can’t even think of a life without Mobile, Internet & Blog!!!
I’ve tried many instances to stay away from gadgets and technology for one day in a month. Slowly within hours it made me restless and I give up!!
I know it is not a healthy thing and one of my 2016 goal is to practice staying away from Computers / Technology at least once a week.
I’ve planned to convert my small land measuring little more than an acre into a farmhouse and consider engaging myself into farm activities every Sunday.Will jump into execution as soon as my wife joins me.
Life After Blogs: I’m seriously considering to buy a big farm and venture into organic farming!!!
There are many To-Do list in my life but let me list the top five;
When I come across a day where those to-do’s were accomplished will definitely make me feel happy and I’ll carry a sense of accomplishment!!
Then I’d look out ways to continue task which to-do’s that needs continuity and document other one time to-do’s!
Then I will start thinking What is my next To-Do? And workout ways to get that Done!
Became an Entrepreneurship against the wishes of my parents during 1st September 2000 a month or two before the dot-com bubble.I remember it was sometime around December 2001, it was already 15 months of entrepreneurship and things were not getting any simple… World was still reeling under dot-com bubble and 9/11 terror attack has only made matters worse and nothing was gloomy… Life became very challenging and cruel to me as;
But every challenging situation throws a opportunity unknown to us!! Like wise an opportunity one day to my dingy office in an oil go-down. The place was hot, dusty and smelled oil everywhere and I had this 10 year experienced US return who came to me asking for a Job. He was too experienced for me to handle and i was not interested give him an offer. But the conversation between us gave me a new dimension.
US Returnee: Hello Sir!!
ME: SIR?? Who Me?
US Returnee: Yes Sir!!
ME: Yes tell me.. How Can I help you??
US Returnee: I’m looking for a Job. Here is my resume.
ME: Resume read 10 years experience, 4 years in US etc etc. OMG!! I Said, you are too experienced to work under me who doesn’t carry any experience.
US Returnee: No Problem Sir! All i need is a job to engage myself. I didn’t want to stay at home and become dumb.
ME: Sorry, I’m not in a position to offer salary. I think you are in a wrong place.
US Returnee: No Problem Sir!! I’ve earned enough money to survive next couple of years. All I need is a job. Pls consider me.
ME: I don’t have any computers to accommodate you.
US Returnee: No Problem Sir!! I’ve a LapTop and I can bring that. Just give me Job & Projects to work thats enough.
ME: Mind Voice “LapTop ah?? I’ve just seen that on TV commercials and on internet”. Then I told him that I’m not in a position to offer him a job.
US Returnee: I’m ready to offer some money for the Job.
ME: I closed the conversation by telling it is not going to work and I was not interested.
But this situation opened an opportunity in life and I thought why not recruit 3-4 freshers and build a product and leverage on that product. The same day posted a walk-in on a Yahoo Groups for Chennai Freshers .
Again this was like a opening up of another devil. I was sleeping and my mother woke me up telling it was a call from mentor. It was 6.30 AM and I picked the phone and here goes the conversation;
Mentor: What did you do?
ME: I did nothing SIR.
Mentor: There are some 200+ people waiting at the entrance of the office.
ME: 200? I made a post for walk-in in Yahoo Group thats it?
Mentor: What ever goto office and see to it that you are talking to the crowd and send them off ASAP.
ME: Ok Sir!! I’ll be there by 8AM and I’ll handle SIR..
I got ready and immediately drove to the spot. To my surprise the crowd has grown to a couple of 1000’s. My mentor has panicked and has sent his staff to tackle the situation. Already I stared shivering and my brain totally stopped working. Even thought of running away from the situation. But I wanted to handle the situation at any cost because I didn’t want the crowd to damage the office.
I Climbed the compound wall and shouted telling I was a startup, till now it is just me and i’m looking for just 4-5 developers. I thought that is it, but to my surprised every individual started pleading to consider them for that 5 opening. There were people who have traveled from Bangalore, Hydrabad & Mumbai for just a Yahoo Group post. That is how the Job Openings became viral during those recession time.
For me coming out of the walk-in was the only thing on my mind. People used every reasons from sympathy factors, to health issues, to parents health issues, to poverty to get a job. One girl was literally crying when she got rejected and then came her father. Her father said;
Sir!! She is my daughter, she is a gold medalist and her self-confidence has gone down. I’ve not seen her like this & i dont want to see her like this. Here is 1,00,000 INR Sir(It was ready cash)!!! Take this and give her a job. That didn’t look like an opportunity. It only made my already panicked mind into more panic and i rejected that offer and sent that man out. Some how i managed to move away from that day..
After moving from that day it was again days of criticism, push from vendors and desperation to succeed. But no where money was coming. That is were i thought why not I call the US Returnee & The Gold Medalist girl and take a Job Deposit from them. Unfortunately I lost their contact.
From then I started to demand deposit for the job which would be returned after a year. Some how I managed to get Job Deposits from 2 recruits. With that money I could settle all my debts and settle all my commitments with 5 months liquidity. With no distraction for 5 months I could turn things by 3rd month and there was no looking back from then.
Life is not a Not Lemonade and this is how I resolved a a situation in early part of my career!!!
Kick It on the Daily Post asks What’s the 11th item on my bucket list??
First let me explain the meaning of Bucket List. A Bucket List is an experience or achievement a person would like to achieve in his/her life time.
So, What’s the 11th item on my bucket list?
My 11th Bucket List is to spend one full year of my life by just bartering my needs. That means I don’t work for money. Instead I would barter my professional service to fulfill my needs.
That made me think what all I need in a day / week / month of the year and how I could barter for those needs??
Couldn’t think of more personal needs!! But I’d love to see more comment on list of things I forgot to list and I can come with the barter I can offer for that!!!
The entire idea of producing a movie was a long term dream of my close buddy Saravanan. Every time he came with the idea I ridiculed him.
But his perseverance paid and full marks for making his dream come true.
When he started there was hardly any money with him. He was able to get some initial funding which was sufficient for run the show for 3-4 months from a friend. He opened an office and start the discussion with that initial seed money.
Once he had the office and a script on hand he stated getting resources falling in place.
First was our Hero cum investor. Then every friends started contributing at every stage. Infact my contribution came during the post production part.
For a movie which started with a budget of 80 lakhs(8 million INR) got completed on a budget of 1.5 crore(15 million INR).
It all happened because of contribution from 13 individuals who all invested either for passion, interest on movies, business interest and personal relationship.
This experience thought me a lot of lessons;
Finally I saw a what a person with dream and dedication can achieve without any money or resources.
He never gave up for rediculing, criticism, demotivation and threat. He has become a case study for producing a movie and releasing it.
Though the movie bommed at the box office. I tame pride in being associated with the Movie Indistry and there is lots of take always!!!
I must thank Saravanan for pushing me to be a part of the movie. Sadly he is again critised for the failure of the movie.
All I can tell you is you have Made it Buddy!!! I’m proud of you and I’m with you!!!
NEFT Not Working on Mobile APP:
For last two days I couldn’t make NEFT transfers from my SBI Mobile APP!! I had to make my Credit Card Payment!!!
Here is the message it throws when I try to make the payment!!!
There was some issue with the app and for two days it didn’t get resolved!!!
Now this unreliability would have made me to delay my credit card payment in spite of having sufficient funds with me but left with no option to transfer of withdraw!!!
Then my wife had some funds in her other bank account and I ended up making the payment!!
This is the last straw reason for me to move away from SBI!!!
But what makes me wonder is how could this bank maintain the status No.1 bank in India??
It’s no wonder why most of the Nationalised banks are suffering and SBI is not far from that!!!
AnandNataraj 